Today was our final day with the kids. We served them breakfast at the school, then gave a devotional. The plan of salvation was presented as well as a review of the Fruits of the Spirit, that was the theme of the week. The Guatemala students taught us some songs and said a big thank you with cards and a banner.
After that we had the opportunity to give them socks and shoes and pray with each student. We took a quick lunch break, then headed out for our final home visits. Some of us trekked one last time up the mountain, while others met with families at the school.
We are now packing and cleaning and will soon be headed to the airport.
It’s difficult to believe that the trip is nearly done, but what a week a ministry it has been! While we have served this community in Pacaya, they truly have served and blessed us in immeasurable ways. The Lord is doing incredible work through Clubhouse Guatemala and Freedom Academy – and we are so honored to have been able to share in a small part of that work. To God be the glory!
Thank you all for sharing this journey with us. And please continue to pray us through our travels home. May the Lord grant us smooth sailing to Lititz. See you all soon!
Today we started off with a game to get to know the students better, where we circled up and walked in a circle with Music. When the music stopped, we had to introduce ourselves to the person across from us. The Guatemalan students tried to speak to us in English, and we tried to speak to them in Spanish. We then split into classes. I did a science experiment with the kids in which vinegar and baking soda were added to a bottle with a balloon on the top. The mixture made the balloon inflate. We also did crafts, making flowers with pipe, cleaners, and tissue paper. Maddie had the kids do an obstacle course to teach them directions. Then we finished off the workday with home visits. There was a crazy steep hill, but it wasn’t terribly difficult. Today being the day before we leave is bittersweet. While our time here ends, I am hopeful we have had a good impact on the people we have worked with here. I know our group has been impacted in a lot of ways.
By Cody Derner
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” — Colossians 3:23
Today started the same as every other day this week—awakened at the crack of dawn by hundreds of nearby roosters and bulls yelling just for the fun of it. As a class, we’ve been studying 2 Timothy, reading it verse by verse and dissecting each one.
After breakfast we usually get about half an hour to prepare for the school day, where we spend every moment until 12:30 with the kids. Today, I went with two of the staff members, Alfredo and Pablo, to install a wood stove in one of the locals’ homes.
I caught the tail end of the school day afterward and got the privilege of drawing with the kids and helping them work through some math riddles. I completely underestimated the experience. I thought the kids might be behind in their schooling. In reality, these kids have knowledge in history, math, and science that lines up with their respective grade levels in the States. They even taught me some Guatemalan history and had a few laughs at my failed attempts at Spanish.
After school we had an amazing lunch prepared by our incredible cook, Wendy, followed by about an hour of downtime before a team meeting and home visits. Today the home visits were about a kilometer down the mountain toward the lava fields, followed by a 200-meter trek back up the mountain on unpaved roads. We visited three families who all had wonderful children attending the school: David, José, and Hampton, in 11th, 1st, and 7th grades respectively.
It’s incredible how inviting these people are—especially the mothers who have never seen us before. Having four to twelve strangers walk into your home could be nerve-racking anywhere else. It’s also a very humbling experience for us “gringos”.
The joy here in Pacaya is unmatched. What these people may lack in material things, they make up for with an incredible ability to find joy in the everyday. Even the woman whose house we installed the stove in this morning—she was burning trash in the living room of her open-air home, yet she wore the biggest, most contagious smile on her face.
The love and joy here are truly unmatched, and there’s no doubt in my mind I will be back.
Today we did some science experiments with the kids and watched the reactions together. The kids were so excited when they saw the balloon getting bigger! 🎈
In art class we did some crafts and made paper flowers. It was so adorable to see how much the kids enjoyed making different things. We also talked with them about how every flower has a different shape and color, and how God made each one of us special in our own way.
The older students drew self portraits and we talked about how each one of us is God’s masterpiece, even if we can’t draw perfectly. He created each of us perfectly.
After that, the group went to a local family’s house to do food packing. My foot wasn’t feeling very good, so I couldn’t go, but I got to see through FaceTime. It made me really happy to see how glad everyone looked when they were prayed for. Also, since I don’t really understand Spanish when someone asked how many siblings I have, I answered 17 because I thought she asked me how old I am. She looked so confused and Cody had to jump in and translate to save the situation 😂 I should’ve studied some more of the simple phrases.
By Beth Hoover
Today we had school in the morning. We started with a ice breaker game where we had to ask each other questions. Since I have limited Spanish I stuck to an easy question everytime which was what’s your favorite fruit. After they answered each time, I said mine was Sangria which unfortunately is alcohol and not Sandia which is watermelon and what I wanted to say. The kids laughed, but I had no clue that I was saying it wrong until about the fourth child I spoke to. Ross was standing beside us talking to his child and he looked at me and asked, “what did you just say?” I told him sangria was my favorite fruit, and Ross told me that I was mistaken that for sandria. Oops, I just told 4 kids my favorite fruit is alcohol and not watermelon like I thought I was saying. No wonder they all were looking at me strangley.
Each day I have been teaching the older students Statistics. It has been a blessing to see their eagerness to learn. Even the little ones have been eager to learn. Many have said how much they love school. One girl told me that she doesn’t get enough homework. It is so lovely to see how appreciative they are and how much we take for granted.
In the afternoon we delivered food packets. We went up a really steep hill and I loved when Ali said she was winded and out of breath by the time we got to the persons home. That make me feel better since I am 30ish years older and thought it was just me struggling. To imagine these kids do this every day really makes me appreciative again for what we have.
I have enjoyed my time here in Guatemala for the ways that it has brought me joy and that it has been challenging me. I found myself relying on God‘s strength in moments where I’m challenged. There have been many moments that have brought me out of my comfort zone. Two challenges for myself in particular have been my lack of Spanish and trying to figure out how to serve “all in” with a broken arm. Even in these struggles, I found God‘s strength to help me find ways to share his love despite the challenges. I had no clue what to expect when I came here to Guatemala. Many things are different from what I expected.
Throughout this week, my classmates and I have been starting our mornings off reading parts of 2 Timothy. Today we read through 2 Timothy 2:14-26, which personally challenged me to serve with the heart of kindness and patience.
We got to the school with a crowd of children giving us hugs (kids we’ve never met before to add)! It has been amazing to see the way that God’s love prevails despite language barriers. A smile and laughter are things that are understood in any language. I feel God‘s love even in the moments where I try to communicate in my less-than-amateur Spanish. The way that these children are willing to teach us even though we came to teach them has been one of the ways that I’ve seen God‘s love this week. We came to teach at the school here, I found that the people here have taught us so much more. After school was over, we spent time with different families of Pacaya. We gave them food packages, talked with them, and prayed with them. In those moments, I felt God‘s love pouring over us in prayer. Spending time with these families has been my favorite part of this trip so far. I have been so encouraged by the love, faith, and hospitality of these families. We’ve come to help them, but they have welcomed us so much more.
Later on, we worked with the people of clubhouse Guatemala to sort out shoes that we will be giving out on Friday. Pray that as we continue through this week that God would continue to strengthen us to serve and give us the humility to learn. Pray that God’s word would go forth through us as we serve.
God bless!
By Jadeyn Hamilton:
Today was probably my favorite day so far. The first thing the kids did when they saw us was give us hugs. That was something special because none of them knew us. They just gave us hugs. During one of the classes, I was sitting with a student, and I was helping her learn colors in English. She was so sweet. Every time she got a color correct, she would smile this adorably proud smile. It has been a great day.
Today was our first day of teaching at the school! Our group split up into math, science, bible/art, and english stations and spent the morning teaching, talking, and playing with the kids there. It was so cool to me to see our group find ways past the language barrier in an effort to interact with these kids. After school ended, half of our group trekked up the mountain to visit the homes of some of the kids we saw at school and deliver food packs to their families, while the other half of our group stayed at the school and met with families who came from farther away to meet with us. We had the opportunity to ask these families about their lives and their faith and to pray over them. Then we went outside and played soccer, jumprope, and painted nails with some of the neighborhood kids. Today was hard but so rewarding.
From Maddie Perry:
Today was such an important and impactful day for all of us because it was our first day doing hands on mission work with the kids! These kids that we have been praying over and preparing to meet for months were finally here in front of us and it was amazing! The first thing we did though was wake up (thankfully later this time) for a class Bible study. We are currently going through 2 Timothy! Then we had some of the best pancakes ever and bacon for breakfast. We then got ready and walked over to the school next door to see the kids! The kids we were with are part of the school that Clubhouse runs. We all ran different stations with school subjects to teach them, including math, english, science, and art. The students were in grades 3rd-5th and 9th-11th. It was so cool for me to see how differently you can connect with each individual person and especially the different ages. God’s intentionality and uniqueness was shown so much to all of us today! School ended at 12:30 so then we had sandwiches and chips for lunch. After lunch, we got to do home visits! One half of the group took the prepared food bags to homes up the mountain and the other half had families come to the school building to pick them up. It was so amazing to see the joy in these families no matter what the circumstances! After that was free time, which most of us spent playing soccer with the kids, painting their nails, and just getting to know them! The day was ended with some delicious chicken, veggies, and mashed potatoes for dinner. Our team wrapped up the night with a devo time, which Alex shared his testimony and an intense and embarrassing game of “hot seat”. We are so blessed to be able to have this opportunity to meet other believers of Jesus in different parts of the world and not only make a small impact but have ourselves be impacted so greatly by them!
Today we started off by waking up at 5:45 to catch the sunrise. Spoiler Alert…we missed it, so instead we started off our morning with a bible study and a game. After a few hours we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of eggs and toast. Then some of the seniors and chaperones headed up to see the lava fields and enjoyed a beautiful hike. Because of the heat, when everyone returned from the hike, we all decided to go to the tienda across the street and get some ice cream. A little while later, we all headed in for lunch and enjoyed some sandwiches with pasta and chips. After lunch we prepared lessons for school tomorrow and then we traced and cut out a million caterpillars (Olivia’s hands were killing her). A few hours later we made food packs and had a team meeting to prepare for school tomorrow. Then we sat under the canopy and listened to Ross’s hilarious stories. Later it was time for dinner and we enjoyed hot dogs and chili beans. We then cleaned up and headed back outside to hear Ross’s testimony. Ross explained how much God loves and cares for us and how the words that come out of our mouths hold power. It’s been a beautiful day and now we’re going to end it with a game of spoons and fellowship. (I am totally going to win). See you tommorow!
From Olivia Hurst:
Everyone woke up at 5:45 in the morning so we could finally have our senior sunrise. However we forgot that we were in the mountains and therefore unable to actually see the sun rise. But since we were already up we decided to have a Bible study outside under the canopy where we were able to talk openly about our faith and grow more connected as a class. After we had a delicious breakfast, a few of the students, teachers, and staff went to the lava fields which was made by one of the beautiful volcanos that we can see from the camp. As a reward for our hike we went to a tienda (store) which is right across from the camp and got ice cream and then ate lunch. We spent the rest of the time getting crafts and projects ready for the kids tomorrow. then we prepared food packs for those families that we will meet when we do home visits after school. We had a team meeting to make sure we were ready and had an amazing dinner full of lots of laughter. we ended the night with a testimony from Ross and an intense game of spoons.
Today was our tourism day, but it became so much more than sightseeing. It was a day to stand in awe of God and His incredible creation. Antigua’s town square was absolutely stunning, vibrant, colorful, and full of life. It felt like one of those rare places where people simply come to be: together in community, surrounded by beauty and joyful energy. Bright colors framed the perfectly white church, while music, laughter, and conversation filled the air. All of it rested at the base of a towering volcano. It was a true blessing to witness how God has created such breathtaking places, diverse cultures, and wonderful people.
One unexpected highlight was our drive from Antigua to Camp Calvary, an adventure none of us will forget. “Wild” hardly begins to describe it. Horns blared constantly as cars squeezed through tight spaces. Motorbikes zipped past from every direction. Dogs wandered along the roadside. We bounced along winding, uneven mountain roads while everyone in the bus ducked, leaned, and swayed with each sharp turn. Every few minutes, cheers erupted as our bus driver, Jonathon, skillfully navigated another impossible stretch. It was the kind of drive I would never want to attempt myself, and I actually enjoy driving.
The ride became a powerful reminder that life often feels just as unpredictable. Challenges come quickly, circumstances shift suddenly, and much of what happens is beyond our control. Just like ducking in your seat doesn’t make a bus any shorter when approaching a low bridge, we don’t have as much control over life as we sometimes think. And while I would never compare a bus driver to Jesus, I was incredibly thankful Jonathon was in the driver’s seat and not me. In the same way, I’m deeply grateful that a loving and sovereign God is guiding my life. I can trust Him completely.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5–6
Our team is doing great, and I am so excited for the week ahead. God has big plans, and we are grateful for every prayer.
What a great start to the trip! We had a warm and heartfelt send off from LC surrounded by applause and prayers, hugs and smiles. Then we hopped in the vans and traveled 3 hours to Dulles. Our flight was on time, and we boarded with no problem. Soon we were winging our way south to Guatemala City.
Once we landed we trundled our way through customs, which took only a matter of minutes, gathers our luggage, and met up with Julia! She’s our trip coordinator for the week, and is just delightful.
After boarding the Jehovah Jirah (our bus), we wended through Guatemalan traffic (which was still going strong at 10 PM), and arrived at our B&B.
We are tired but grateful to be here, and excited for a day in Antigua tomorrow. Buenas noches!
Today was full of great joy and sorrow, the last day in Guatemala. We laid off the lessons for today, with Mr. Swift’s science experiment as an exception. He demonstrated a volcano eruption using baking soda and vinegar. Friday is PE day for the students so we joined them and played three different games. The games had elements of balance and multi-tasking at play, it was really fun! Lunch was similar to the other days, the kids playing with train tracks while most of the teenagers played spicy UNO (VERY complicated rules). Afterwards, the class did a butterfly craft, with some joining in on the final chance to make bracelets. It was a somber but sweet time making and receiving bracelets. At the end of the school day everyone circled up, and each student expressed their gratitude for their time with us this past week. I got so many hugs, I felt like crying, but I didn’t want to in front of everyone. Mr. Swift’s suggested that we write down our experiences from the trip, so I took some time to write about our trip knowing I’ll forget the details in the future. We all had the norm for lunch, sandwiches and chips, the pinnacle of all lunches. We then prepared and had the biggest block party I ever went to! It was incredibly fun, there were bounce houses, chalk slapping (if yk yk sadly), and some good carnival food. Everyone played and bonded with the kids, and we all had a blast! We had dinner after the party of course. Now dinner, nothing could best last night’s dinner, but even still, it was amazing. I’m glad I had the amount of money I did to give to the staff love offering. And that’s it, now I’m sitting in the lunch room, typing this out while getting hyped for the movie night (We’re watching Leo by Adam Sandler, great movie). It’s a bit sad that things are coming to an end, but we can be happy that we got to experience any of this in the first place. Buenos dias Lititz Christian familia.
LC Senior Go! 